McCormick Solid As Reserve; UMass Win 15th

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts junior Sam Breen had a 26-point, eight rebound effort in her first collegiate start as the Minutewomen defeated Richmond, 64-50, on Wednesday at the Mullins Center before a Field Trip Day crowd of 3,664. UMass improves to 15-6 on the season and 5-3 in the Atlantic 10, while the Spiders drop to 9-12 (2-5 A-10) with the loss.
Senior Hailey Leidel had 11 points to eclipse 1,700 in her career. In doing so, Leidel became the first player in Massachusetts program history to record 1,700 points, 600 rebounds and 200 assists in a career. Fellow senior Vashnie Perry dished out eight assists, tying a career-high and had four steals, one short of matching a career-best. Freshman Maeve Donnelly recorded three blocks.

Heuvelton's Paige McCormick made a very efficient contribution in reserve role scoring five points on 2-3 shooting and went 1-2 from beyond the arch while playing a turnover free 16 minutes.
UMass found itself trailing early, but chipped away at an early deficit of five and never trailed after the first quarter. Leidel (8) and Breen (7) carried the offensive load in the first half for the Maroon and White, which also held control on the glass helped in part by Breen and Hampton-Bey.

A lights out third quarter effort beyond the arc helped UMass swell its lead to double digits for the first time. That stretch included Leidel's milestone bucket with 5:01 on the clock directly off an inbounds pass from Perry–one of her four dimes in the period.

Breen capped the afternoon with a 4-of-6 showing (eight points) in the final 10 minutes of regulation, cementing the victory during a 9-2 run.
On the day, Massachusetts was 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the field and had the rebounding edge, 34-29. The Minutewomen forced 18 Richmond turnovers in the win and converted that into as many points.
For the Spiders, Kate Klimkiewicz put down 15 points and was joined in double figures by Claire Holt.
UMass now heads down to Davidson for another key Atlantic 10 matchup, which tips at 1 p.m. from John M. Belk Arena.
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